Dear Parents, Students and Friends,

Welcome to our first newsletter for the 2025 school year. I hope everyone enjoyed the summer break and the first 4 weeks of school. Thank you very much to the many families who came along to our Parent Information Sessions. It was a great opportunity for families to hear about the new changes being introduced by the Department and to see where their children are learning, meet the teachers and make connections with other families.

The Foundation students have now been at school for 19 days and have already settled into the routine of the school day. A lot of this can be attributed to the Essendon Primary School Prep Buddy program, which is an important part of the Foundation students’ successful transition. It is equally as significant and exciting for the year 5 students who have all very proudly taken on this responsibility and have been very caring and supportive with their charge during buddy activities and in the yard. We have often seen a year 5 student assist and console their Foundation buddy if they have misplaced their hat, taken a fall, have lost sight of their friends or don’t quite know where to go at the end of play time. It has been a brilliant start to the school year for all students, but especially our Foundation and Year 5 students.

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to the new families who join us this year and a big welcome back to our ongoing students, their families and our staff. We look forward to another year of working together to ensure our school provides the best opportunities possible for each of our students. I would like to introduce and welcome our new teacher, Nez De Sila who is working with the Year 1 students. Welcome back to Madi Turner who has returned to EPS after 12 months family leave and will be providing time release for our Learning Specialists. Welcome also to Samantha Dowling and Adele Snibson (previously Adele Moullo) who have been exploring other school settings over the past 4 to 6 years and have decided to return to EPS. We have also been busy over the past year to secure funding to recruit a further 3 Education Support (ES) personnel to support in classroom. Our new ES staff are Claudia Bruzzaniti, Lucy Callaghan, Nia Evans and Kate Thomas.

Learning Communities

Year level cohorts are referred to as Learning Communities.

Foundation Learning Community- Monique Vrzovski, Laura White and Jacinta Wirth with the support of ES staff; Nicole Stevenson and Luke Davison

1/2 Learning Community- Carly Ridley (Team Leader), Jared Cottrill, Amanthi Jayasinghe, Nez De Silva and Summer Haly with the support of ES staff; Anya Harrison, Julie Cuthbert, Anh Nguyen, Heather Di Scipio, Nia and Maria Rio.

3/4 Learning Community- Sam Fleming (Team Leader), Oscar Gale, Alysse Carland, Brittany Soutter and Amanda Scarborough with the support of ES staff; Lucy Callaghan, Payton Frost, Lee Fisk, Elwyn Faustin and Patrick Grace

5/6 Learning Community- Jen Bradby (Team Leader), Phoebe Goldby, Bree Davis, Amanda Barrell and Gerry Schultz with the support of ES staff; Priyanka Jain & Claudia Bruzzaniti

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Specialist Team

Etsuka Sawada LOTE Japanese

Samantha Blease The Arts

Trish Murray Science

Samantha Dowling Physical Education and Sport

Office Staff

Natasha Young Business Manager

Renee Mcgrath Enrolment officer

Rebecca Horne Reception & Building and Maintenance

Vicki Stakemire Reception

Leadership Staff

Christine Nash Principal

Mary Fazzari Assistant Principal

Heather Fletcher Inclusion Coach

Lauren Barry Mental Health and Well-being Leader

Jen Bradby Mathematics Learning Specialist

Laura White Literacy Learning Specialist

Parent Teacher Communication

The school and teachers are keen to open the channels of communication between the classroom teacher and parents to support each child’s learning. This can be done easily via your child’s Compass portal. Parents are encouraged to raise any issues or concerns they have about their child’s learning needs directly with the classroom teacher either via email, phone message, note or briefly in person after school. Parents are very welcome to give leadership or those who are at a gate a quick message to relay to the teachers about anything they need to know about your child’s day or morning. In the afternoon your child’s homegroup teacher will be at their allocated gate if you want to ask some questions or have a quick chat. I will be at the gates on Raleigh St before and after school and am always happy to have a chat and answer or follow-up on any questions you might have. For longer more sensitive conversations I would suggest you leave a message with the office or send a quick email asking the teacher for a call back. Hopefully these various options will work for most and help families feel connected.

Classroom Parent Volunteers

We have had many requests and offers from parents to assist in the learning spaces. It is important to note that all Parent Volunteers who assist in the classroom must have completed the Essendon Primary School Parent Volunteers Training Session in any year after 2017. Our Virtual Parent Volunteer Training module is available on your compass newsfeed. It is also important to note that all Parent Volunteers who assist in anyway during the school day; in the classroom, incursions, excursions, sporting activities, fundraising activities, camps etc. must have signed our ‘Child Safety Code of Conduct’ and have a current ‘Working with Children’s Card’. You will need to present your ‘Working with Children’s Card’ to the office so we can take a photocopy and keep a register of expiry dates for our records. Applications are available on line at

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/individuals/applicants/how-to-apply. Teachers are keen to secure parent assistance in the classroom as soon as we are able so if you are interested, please email your child’s Home Group via the Compass Portal.

Library Support

Gerry Schultze continues in the role of Library Coordinator and very much needs parent volunteer support, guidance and assistance in the form of a parent Library Sub-Committee. Gerry is responsible for the purchase of books, subscriptions, shelving etc and for overseeing the organisation of our libraries. We are hoping that parent volunteers will help us manage the processing (covering, cataloguing etc) of new purchases. We would like the Library Sub-Committee to help us sort through and organise the many books that are currently in storage, cull what is well worn and loved or no longer suitable and advise us on purchases and ways to better manage and organise. If you are interest in assisting us please send any offers of interest and assistance to the school email address Essendon.ps@education.vic.gvo.au

Whole School Assembly

Our first whole school assembly held in the afternoon on Friday 21st February was a spectacular event. Our new Foundation students were 'welcomed' into their house team by their House Captains. House teams are named after the streets surrounding the school – Raleigh (blue) Shaftesbury (green), Brewster (red) and Nicholson (yellow). Students can wear their house colours to school on the day of their PE class, and later in the year when they participate in Athletics Day to represent their house team.

Leadership Awards

Congratulations to the following recipients:

Ambassador: Milla, Rosie, Miyah & Zali for demonstrating leadership and kindness while being an

exemplary buddy this year, ensuring both their Foundation buddies and other Foundation students are supported in the playground

Respect: Shammah in recognition of his consistent demonstration of respect towards peers and adults in the Essendon Primary School community.

Resilience: Ruby V for demonstrating amazing resilience by congratulating those selected for the Gala Day interschool sport teams

Kindness: Sebastian for his kindness in supporting a new student to Essendon Primary School who is in his class

Responsibility: Collins for being an amazing role model to her classmates and always being ready to learn.

Achievement: Felix for putting in his best effort and helping others to do the same.

There are many more whole school and year level events being organised. Dates for arrangements that have been confirmed can be found on the Compass Calendar and EPS website calendar and on the Important Events page in this newsletter. We look forward to another year of working together, to ensure our school provides the best opportunities possible for each of our students.

Kind regards

Christine Nash

Principal

Chess Club